Owsley County Kentucky

Education

Primary/Secondary Education

The Owsley County Board of Education provides primary and secondary, as well as Headstart education to Booneville and Owsley County.

In addition to the curriculum offered in-house, students can also access the Kentucky Virtual High School to access high school courses and online learning opportunities delivered to public high schools through the Kentucky Education Technology System.

Higher Education

Owsley County is served by the Hazard Community College in Hazard, Kentucky and the HCC Lees College Campus in Jackson (Breathitt County). Hazard Community College also offers some classes in the county at the Owsley County High School and through distance learning via video-conference through the CenterNet2.

Berea College is located approximately 58 miles west of Booneville in Berea. Eastern Kentucky University is located approximately 65 miles west of Booneville in Richmond, KY. The University of Kentucky is located approximately 90 miles northwest of Booneville in Lexington, KY.

Vocational and Adult Skills Training

Locally, the Adult Education Center provides adult GED training. The Owsley County Action Team provides technology instruction including basic computer operation and software applications. The Action Team also provides distance learning opportunities through the use of CenterNet and offers public computer access as well as a Laptop Lending Program.

Kentucky Tech in Hazard, KY offers training in 15 different programs and various fields and production skills. The school offers low-cost customized training programs and services from existing as well as new and expanding businesses and industries.

The Lee County Area Technology Center offers educational opportunities in Accounting and Finance Technology, Automotive Technology, Carpentry, Electrical Technology, Health Sciences, Office Technology, and Welding.

The Owsley County Adult Education Center assists adults with GED preparation and some skills training.

Kentucky Virtual High School

Kentucky high school students can go online with Internet access to advanced courses in foreign languages, math, and science. The Kentucky Virtual High School is the first project of its kind in the world. The Kentucky Virtual High Schoolgives students everywhere in the state the opportunity to take challenging advanced courses not available at their local high school.

The KVHS has two corporate partnerships. One with Class.com, Inc., to use secondary courses developed by the Division of Continuing Studies at the University of Nebraska with a $17 million Star Schools Grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The other partnership is with eCollege.com, which creates Internet education solutions, to bring online education to the classroom and to the distance-learning student.

Kentucky Virtual Library

The Kentucky Virtual Library provides comprehensive information resources and services to support the lifelong learning for all Kentuckians. Library users have access to online information resources, either housed in Kentucky libraries or accessible via the Internet, through a "one-stop shopping" gateway.

The KVL provides access to the online public access catalogs of the eight public universities and 28 community and technical colleges in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), along with other Kentucky libraries. This access allows users to find out the holdings of each library and to have materials delivered to the nearest library.

There are 32 databases available to the statewide audience including 16 databases from Online Computer Library Center, Inc., 15 databases from EBSCO Information Services, and the online Encyclopedia Britannica. They contain full text from close to 5,000 journals, magazines, newspapers, newswires, and reference books, as well as indexes and abstracts to both scholarly and general interest content. The KVL website also offers access to a unique Kentuckiana collection, which makes available a digital collection of Kentucky-oriented materials.

The Kentucky Virtual Library was recently named the Outstanding Library Program of the Southeast by the Southeastern Library Network (Solinet). Established in 1999, the KVL received the Multitype Library Cooperation Award for its initiatives that foster cooperation among Kentucky libraries. The state's participating libraries include 116 public libraries, 36 public universities and colleges, 19 independent universities and colleges, more than 1,200 K-12 schools and 22 special libraries.

Kentucky Virtual University

The Kentucky Virtual University offers one-stop access to affordable college credit courses and professional development programs offered online from colleges, universities and other institutions such as the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville, Eastern Kentucky University, Western Kentucky University, Morehead State University, Northern Kentucky University, Kentucky State University, Sullivan College, Murray State University, Bluegrass Community and Technical College, and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS).

KVU's online learning programs allows a person to earn a degree from the college of their choice, start or finish a degree program online, work full-time and go to college, keep a busy family schedule and still have time to attend college, develop careers with professional training courses, and continue learning about subjects just because they are interesting.

Kentucky was the first state in the country to offer its residents a comprehensive package of online educational resources.

Kentucky Virtual Adult Education

Launched in October 2001, the Kentucky Virtual Adult Education website, a partnership between the Department for Adult Education and Literacy and the Kentucky Virtual University, was created to help adults achieve their education goals. The KVAE provides adult learners and instructors access to literacy information, curriculum, resources and services in an easy-to-use and motivational format. The KVAE provides adult learners with the basic information they need to start or continue their education. Free services, such as the Kentucky Virtual Library, the Call Center/Help Desk, the Computer Help Desk, and access to Destinations are available. Adult educators are provided with a wealth of free information, including professional development opportunities, a collection of online resources and lesson plans, peer message boards, on-call KVL reference librarians, Computer Help, and Call Center/Help Desk access.

Kentucky Educational Television

Kentucky Educational Television started in 1968 as Kentucky's statewide public broadcasting network. Today, KET is the largest PBS member network in America. They deliver both the PBS national schedule and their own wide range of local arts, cultural, documentary, and public affairs productions to viewers throughout Kentucky and in parts of seven surrounding states. KET is widely acknowledged as the premier producer of video instruction in adult basic skills and workplace education.

For more information contact:
Ronnie Callahan, Jr. - Chairman
Booneville/Owsley County Industrial Authority
P.O. Box 637 · Booneville, KY 41314
Phone: 606-593-6800 · Fax: 606-593-7700
Email: rcallahan@owsleycountykentucky.org